Philosophy by the Way

Random quote A young tree, which over-tops and destroys its parent, stands in all the same relations with Nero, when he murdered Agrippina;...

Football is not only a game. Football is life. I think that everybody will agree. Maybe in the past football was only a game, but in present...

Source of the stamp Random quote Be resolved not to serve any more, and you will be free. Tyrants are great only because we are on our knee....

Currently, the football world championship for the FIFA World Cup is taking place. In view of the contradictions between the nations, someti...

Random quote If either a single person or an oligarchy or a democracy has a soul eager after pleasures and desires—wanting to be filled wit...

Plato and Pinocchio Are politicians allowed to lie to convince the people of what they see as a good thing for everybody? That is something ...

Random quote Conquest is as far from setting up any government, as demolishing an house is from building a new one in the place. Indeed, it...

Sunset seen from a moving train You go from A to B, say from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Bordeaux in the southwest of France. You might ...

Random quote ‘Tis not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger. David Hume (1711-1776...

Dutch government buildings in The Hague. At hte left the office of the Prime Minister (the "Little Tower").  Behind the office bui...

Random quote Great robbers punish little ones, to keep them in their obedience; but the great ones are rewarded with laurels and triumphs, ...

The cave dweller: Portrait of a man as a prehistoric being. Collage by G.F. Potter, 1899.  Gelatin silver print and ink; photographed by me ...

Random quote Where there is no law, there is no freedom: for liberty is, to be free from restraint and violence from others; which cannot b...

Somewhere in his book Erasmus de Reiziger (Erasmus The Traveller), John Tholen writes: “Celebrities are often bombarded today by their fans...

Random quote Fame and youth all at the same time are too much for a mortal. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

You listen to a lecture and want to take notes. It is better to do this with paper and pen than with a notebook (laptop): You’ll remember be...

Random quote The so-called good society accepts all kinds of merits, except intellectual ones; these, in fact, are contraband. Arthur Schop...

The cast receiving the applause after the Dutch premiere of Mieczysław  Weinberg’s opera  The Passenger,  17 April 2026 in Amsterdam You adm...

Random quote If the enemy be rich, [the Romans] are rapacious; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has bee...

Suppose, you are the president of a mighty democratic country. You see that in a country with a very repressive regime on the other side of ...

Random quote Of what use is knowledge to him who has lost his head? Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)

When someone holds an office, it often happens that she or he doesn’t see the office only as a function they hold but as a part of their wh...

Random quote Impulses serve all things badly . Publius Papinius Statius (ca 40-96)

Although humans are animals, some kinds of behaviour are typical of humans and we don’t find them in other animals. It’s not surprising. If ...

Random quote Meaning and sense are not ‘things’ that you can find somewhere. They are made by people . Pieter Hoexum (1968-)

French monument for the victory in the First Battle of the Marne (5-12 September 1914) in the First World War. This victory stopped the Germ...

Random quote Imagination and fantasy are often highly praised, but nothing can compare to the visible and tangible reality . Pieter Hoexum ...

Source of the photo (edited) On 14 March 2026, Jürgen Habermas, one of the greatest German thinkers, died, 96 years old. Habermas was a phi...